The Gualala River is home to more than 20 species of fish including threatened Steelhead trout and Coho salmon.

The watershed provides habitat to many different bird species including the Northern Spotted Owl, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, Red Tailed Hawk and the Bald Eagle.

The Gualala Roach (Lavinia symmetricus parvipinnis) is endemic to the watershed.  They can be found in warm water pools in most tributaries throughout the basin. 

The river is home to a host of different amphibians including the Giant salamander ( it can grow to be 13 inches long), the Yellow Legged Frog, the Red Legged Frog, and the Coast Range Newt.

 

The Gualala River watershed drains 298 square miles along the

 coast of northern Sonoma and southern Mendocino counties.  The mouth of the river drains into the Pacific Ocean 114 miles north of San Francisco.  The watershed is elongated, running 32 miles north-south, with an average width of 14 miles.  Elevations range from sea level to over 2,650 feet at Gube Mountain.   A long history of movement along the San Andreas and the Toombs Creek Faults has been a dominant force in shaping the watershed.  In fact, the South Fork and the Little North Fork tributaries were formed by, and still flow along the San Andreas Fault.

The Gualala has always served as an important stream to sport fishermen. The watershed's proximity to the Bay Area and it's ability to quickly flush after a storm, has made the Gualala a favorite fishing destination for many decades.  In the 1954-1955 fishing season the Gualala received more angler use than any other stream north of the Bay Area except for the Russian River.  The Gualala is still  considered an excellent Steelhead trout river, but declines in the Coho salmon population over the past 50 years has limited its appeal as a winter sport fishing river. 

In recent years, summer kayaking and canoeing on the river has become more popular and as a result the lower Gualala (from the estuary up to the North Fork confluence) was designated a Wild and Scenic River by the State of California in 2003.

The primary land use within the watershed is timber harvesting with approximately 60% of the basin zoned for Timber Production.  The watershed has been subject to three eras of intensive land use: 1868 to 1911 - old growth redwood harvesting in the lower basin, 1942 to 1968 - tractor harvesting of remaining old growth areas and Doug Fir harvesting in the headwaters, 1991 to present - second growth harvesting in the coastal reaches. 

Past land use practices in this fragile and highly erosive landscape have contributed to erosion and mass wasting, producing sedimentation in the river and its tributaries.  That sedimentation is believed to be a major contributing factor to the decline of the historic runs of salmon and steelhead in the river.

In 1993, the USEPA included the Gualala River on the federal Clean Water Act list of impaired water bodies due to declines in anadromous salmonids (salmon and steelhead) from excessive sedimentation.  The listing was updated in 2003 and water temperatures in the basin are now considered impaired as well.  Coho salmon were listed as “threatened” in the Gualala River in April of 1997 under the federal Endangered Species Act, and steelhead are now listed as well. 

 

phone: (707) 785-2525    email: grwc@mcn.org    fax: (707) 785-3602